Tech

Google unveiled Duplex at this year's Google IO. Duplex is a mind-blowing AI voice bot that can have conversations with real people in order to complete tasks like dinner reservations.
The examples are amazing, the system can deal with interruptions and can clarify details during the call in a realistic manner.Have a listen to the call below:

Researchers at MIT have developed a self driving car system for country roads that does not rely on prior 3D maps. The MapLite system uses GPS and LIDAR to map the edge of the road and map the path of the road on the fly, without the need for curbs or road signs.

Microsoft have partnered with drone maker DJI to allow Microsoft Azure IoT Edge AI code to be deployed onto drones using an SDK. The video shows a demo of the partnership duing Microsoft Build 2018 where a DJI Mavic Air with an onboard image recognition AI detects a structural anomaly in some demo pipes.

Researchers in Italy, on a project called In Codice Ratio, are using OCR and AI to begin to digitise hand written manuscripts from The Vatican Secret Archives. The challenge lies in creating an OCR system efficient enough in recognising hand written Latin script. The researchers have pioneered a mehtod called jigsaw segmentation, where a word is segmented into blocks analogous to pen strokes, as opposed to segmentation by letter.

Seth Godin has recently started a new podcast called Akimbo, in which he discusses a topic and answers questions on the previous week's topic. As with all of Seth's content, it is excellent. Episode 10, The Regular Kind is particularly good.

Stack Overflow has launched a teams product, which includes a private searchable questions and answers knowledgebase and Q&A engine, stored on a dedicated network in a logically seperated database. Pricing starts at $10 per month for the first 10 users and $5 per user per month thereafter.

Check out this great list of publicly available datasets, like world map shape files, Formula 1 data, 6 months of NYC Uber pickup data in 2014, Ireland's Open Data portal, and Google and Amazon's open data sites, among others.

Two recently published papers have demonstrated significant advances in neuromorphic computing. The brain on a chip systems use conductive plates separated by a switching medium in order to emulate the synapse structure of the brain, which allows data to be both stored and processed in situ.

Snap has released the second version of its Spectacles smart(?) glasses. These ones are $150, shoot HD video and, new to this version, can take HD photos. According to The Verge, they are less bulky and easier to use. If predictions come true, we'll all be wearing glasses like these, or better ones from Apple, in the next few years.